Wednesday, February 1, 2012

Unlike most of the videos I post, this nacho cheese sauce recipe is not cheaper and easier to make at home. In fact, you could probably get a gallon of that industrial strength lubricant that passes for cheese sauce at the grocery store for the same cost as a single batch of this, but what you lose in cost and quantity, you more than make up for in actual food content.

I’m not really that militant about insisting people read nutritional labels. I mean, who has the time? But just for fun, the next time you’re in the processed foods aisle (if those are still legal where you live) check out the back of a nacho cheese sauce. Pretty frightening.

However, while we’re going to use real, honest-to-goodness cheese in this, we still want to mimic some of the other more desirable characteristics of that day-glow yellow cheese syrup they pump on your chips at the movies.

We want the same thin, slightly runny viscosity, so that the sauce seeps down and around all the chips on your plate. It’s a total rookie mistake to make a nacho cheese sauce too thick, since as soon as it hits the chips it tightens up considerably, and you end up with a lump of cheese, and some serious sauce-to-chip ratio issues. Even at room temp, this sauce remains fairly fluid.

As you’ll see, I used Jack, Muenster, and white cheddar cheese for mine, which gave me a pale, yet pleasantly-colored sauce, but if you want something a little “brighter,” then go with the classic orange cheddar instead. Contrary to popular believe, orange cheese is not artificially colored, and uses annatto seed to produce that iconic hue.

Anyway, if you planning on having a nacho cheese sauce involved in your Super Bowl party plans, and you really should, I hope you give this a try. By the way, I’ll show you how to do some quick-pickled jalapeno rings in a video Friday, so stay tuned for that. Enjoy!

I tried that fake cheese stuff you're talking about one time at a hockey game. I had always been hesitant to try it, but finally decided to give it a go. Worst decision of my life. The aftertaste, which was horrible, lingered in my mouth for the rest of the night and all the next day despite my attempts to get rid of it.

Well, I'm gonna make this short as I have some refried beans, nacho chips and a soon to be nachos cheese sauce calling my name.. Looks incredible! I mean come on.. anything with a little chipotle is an insta-win right?

I've made a sauce similar to this though since I'm from New Mexico it is the chile con queso and has the required New Mexico Hatch chiles in it. I noticed when I made it that really how it differs from a normal cheese sauce is less thickener (roux) and more (a lot more) cheese.

The person I got the recipe from said you can reheat in a double-boiler (as Chef John said) though when I made it (an alarmingly huge batch) there wasn't any left over to find out. My guests practically licked the bowl. You folks can give up the chemical waste dump now and make this sauce. You'll never go back.

Two questions: first, if I wanted to add onions and peppers for flavor, do I salutes them first or cook into the roux? Secondly, if I wanted a bigger batch, do I need to increase the roux base as well, or just the milk and cheese? Thanks, Chef. Can't wait to try it! (p.s., will this keep well in a slow cooker for the duration of the game?)

This looked so good, I went to the store on my way home Friday and picked up a few ingredients. The sauce was great!

When I went to heat it on Superbowl Sunday I was so dissapointed to find out that I couldn't reheat the sauce. I microwaved it, double boiler medium heat, double boiler low heat, but all I got was liquid and cheese curd.

I made a roux with 1tbsp butter and 1tbsp flour. Then I added the cheese sauce slurry to the roux and it reconstituted the unheatable sauce!

I don't know how to ask a question about a previous recipe, but I attempted to make the updated version of no-Knead pizza dough (twice because I thought I must have measure incorrectly). Both times it came out as a heavy mass of dry dough. When I looked at the original recipe it only uses 2 1/2 cups regular flour compared to about 4 cups in the updated version -- seems like 16 oz is not right for the updated recipe?

Greetings from Barcelona! Longtime viewer here. Can you please tell me what brand/type/size pot you used in your nacho cheese episode? I'm looking for a decent cast iron pot and that looks just about right. I only seem to find Le Creuset but am also wondering if there are other brands worth recommending? Thanks for all your recipes!

I tried this sauce as a mac and cheese sauce and it curdled! I know I had the heat too high (turns out on an electric stove turning it to low doesn't mean the temperature comes down right away). Is there any way to fix the texture? Or maybe another application for the sauce that this texture wouldn't be so bad in?

Chef at this point ive made about four of your recipes and my family and friends still dont believe i made them. its kind of annoying. Where can i get a foodwishes recipe certification?i want authenticity. too bad i cant brand my plates with your logo. haha!!

A local pub/microbrewery in my area has a very similar cheese sauce. I have tried to replicate it with no success. They claim to use some of their beer in the recipe. (It's a red beer similar to Killians.) While your recipe is close, I believe it would be right on with the beer. How and, at what stage would you incorporate beer into this recipe?

Hey chef! I was so excited to make this sauce and it seemed to be coming along really well; everything was going perfectly until the cheese melted. It didn't incorporate with the white sauce at all; it's not gritty or curdled, it just won't mix no matter how I stir it. The cheese sits at the bottom while the sauce rests on top, making it basically unusable. Any tips on how to fix it?

Me again!Could it be because I used 1% milk and full-fat cheese? I know combining two dairy products with different fat contents can cause trouble when making yogurt, but I didn't think it would matter in something made so quickly.

So not sure if I did anything wrong but my cheese was thin. Like too thin! I used a gluten free flour and butter oil. Not sure if those 2 things made it not happen but it worked out! My husband put it in rice and ate with chips and said it was very yummy. He even had some leftovers he'd poured into the rest of the rice and heated it up today and it was good! Thanks for a great recipe!

Not sure why the sauce did not come out as your video (it was quite thin). Only sub I made was pepper jack for the muenster, added fresh cayenne (plus dried), fresh jalapenos and subbed chipoltes in adobo for the chipolte powder. But I can tell you it made one heck of a mac and cheese.

Oh man, I really want to make this but the only cheese I can get in Germany is cheddar. Can you recommend what to use instead of Monterey Jack and Muenster? How about Gruyere and Gouda? I really have no idea what would taste good together.

You don't need to go through all of this. Roast 2 jalapeños over a gas flame until blackened. Then scrape off the black skin. Finely chop them either manually or using a food processor. Place these in a microwavable bowl. Add 2 cups of your favorite shredded cheese plus 1/4 cup heavy cream or milk. Microwave on high until blended. The queso will be quite spicy since you roasted the jalapeños. Added chopped tomato if desired. Enjoy.